Wide Angle Binoculars

What is the Angle of View?

To explain the angle of view it is easier to start with the field of view (FOV) of a pair of binoculars, which is a measurement that indicates the width of the view you see through the binoculars at a specified distance, it is most often represented in feet at 1,000 yards, but increasingly common is in meters at 1,000 meters.

The angle of view (AOV) is the angle expressed in degrees between the left and right extremes of the FOV and the center of the objective lenses of your binocular (sounds complicated, but take a look at the diagram below). So in the example represented in the diagram below, the field of view of theses binoculars is 315 feet at 1,000 yards and the angle is 6°

Apparent field of view (AFOV)
Some binocular manufacturers list their field of view as the Apparent field of view, this is the value of the real field of view multiplied by the magnification of the binoculars (Apparent field of view = Magnification x Real field of view). This value is important because it is comparable even among binoculars of different magnifications.

Advantages of a Wide View

When looking through an optical device, if it has a wide field of view, it can basically "fit" more into the image that you see when looking through them, this makes finding objects, especially moving ones that much easier. This is one of the main reasons why the best bird watching binoculars tend to have lower magnifications and higher FOV's especially if they are to be used for observing the smaller, fast and erratic birds that live in wooded areas.

Obviously if your main birding is done out in open areas, for example at sea or on coastlines, lakes and dams, then a higher magnification may be preferable over a wide field of view (take a look at my article on 10x42 Binoculars for Bird Watching).

The down sides to a wide FOV is that they tend to have reduced eye relief and to gain the wide angle it usually means reducing the binoculars magnification. So in general, the higher the magnification, the smaller your angle of view and so there is always a compromise between FOV and magnification and it is about getting the balance right to get your ideal setup depending on how you use your optics.

How Wide is Wide?

Ok, so now we know what the angle of view (AOV) is, the Apparent field of view (AFOV) and why in some areas and situations a binocular with a wide angle of view is preferable. But what should you be looking for and what binoculars are considered to be Wide Angle Binoculars? Well there isn't a magic number, but lets take a look at what most people consider to be some of the best wide field of view birding binoculars on the market to use as a reference point:

FOV of some Market Leading Birdwatching Binoculars

Model

AOV

AFOV

FOV @1,000m

FOV @1,000yds

Swarovski
The Swarovski EL range and in particular the 8x32 and 8.5x42 EL binoculars are regarded by many to be some of the finest birding binoculars you can get:

I'm not suggesting that to get a wide angle binocular great for bird watching, that you have to buy one of the top of the range binoculars listed above. What it does is to act as a reference point as almost every birder I know would be more than happy with any of those listed above. It also shows that some figures can be misleading and it is worth taking all of the measurements into account when deciding on the right pair for your needs.

Based of the binoculars above, I would say that to be considered as a wide angle binocular it would would have an:

Angle of View (Real field of view) of around 7.5° or more

FOV of around 132m @ 1,000m (396ft @ 1,000 yards)

Comparing binoculars can be difficult as not all manufacturers list all of the stats and so to make it easier I have created a Field of View Conversion Table, that should help.

Extra Wide Binoculars

Apart from the standard wide angle binoculars there are a few specialist ultra or extra wide binoculars, that have huge fields of view, one of the best know is made by Bushnell and is primarily designed to be used for sporting events or even as opera or theatre binoculars.

Bushnell Xtra-Wide 4x30 Binoculars

With these binoculars your will never have a problem with the field of view being too narrow as these fit in a massive 900ft at 1000 Yards, this is a field of view that is more than twice as wide as that of most wide angle binoculars meaning you can see ALL the action.

These auto-focus, compact binoculars come with a hip pack, and as well as the impressive 900-foot field of view at 1,000 yards, they feature BaK-4 prisms as well as fully multi-coated optics for high resolution and enhanced light transmission.

Price Range
Bushnell 4x30 Xtra-Wide binoculars are currently discounted on Amazon and available for under $50 in the US and under £100 in the UK:

Compare Side-By-Side:

At the mid-level price range, these Celestron TrailSeeker ED binoculars are just about as good as it gets and in my opinion one of the Best Value For Money Binoculars in their class.

Highlights include high quality optics like dielectric coated, phase corrected prisms that bring about a high-quality, bright view. ED glass in the lenses helps produce the extremely low levels of color fringing. They also have a fully waterproof and nitrogen purged, lightweight and compact magnesium chassis.

Very high level 8x42 binoculars at a mid-level price range, these Hawke Frontier HD X binoculars feature an extremely wide field of view, a magnesium alloy body, metal focus wheel and eye-piece housings as well as a fully multi-coated optical system with BaK-4, phase corrected, dielectric coated roof prisms.

Indeed, the only difference between these and the more expensive Frontier ED X binoculars is the lack of ED lens elements. The difference this makes is...

Offering extremely good value for money, these GPO Passion ED binoculars combine components like a magnesium chassis and a fully multi-coated optical system with dielectrically coated, phase corrected roof prisms with a whole host of very impressive specifications.

The result is a highly capable binocular that beats most in its class and competes very well with many far more expensive instruments.

When you factor in their price, the list of highlights on these mid-to-high end Hawke binoculars is truly impressive.

Highlights on the exterior include a magnesium housing, metal eyepieces and focus wheel. Optically they are fully multi-coated, have ED glass lenses with water repellent coatings as well as phase corrected, dielectrically coated prisms

The field of view is phenomenal as is the image quality and brightness....

The best value for money range from Athlon Optics is the Midas series and in my opinion the best model within that series is this 8x42 version and is without question, one of the best value binoculars currently on the market.

Why I hear you ask? Well to start with they use all the high end components and features of far more expensive binoculars, then these also have an extremely wide field of view and...

Great quality optics and coatings in combination with very large 56mm objective lenses and a moderate 8x power results in a binocular that is able to deliver the brightest images in extremely adverse light conditions.

These attributes as well as many others make this binocular not only suitable but excel in a wide range of uses and times where light is a limiting factor. This includes hunting, security, general wildlife, birding, marine and astronomy.

Originally designed for the theater, the high quality Japanese made Kabuki Glasses are also ideal for many other hands free uses like the opera, ballet, concerts and both outdoor and indoor sporting events.

These low cost binoculars from Levenhuk deliver a good image quality and high level of brightness for a mid sized (32mm) bin at this price level, which almost certainly is a result of the relatively simple but good quality BaK-4 porro prism design combined with fully multi-coated optics.

Add to this a very wide field of view, tough water and fog proof exterior and you have a good all-round mid-sized take anywhere binocular with a really good value to performance ratio.

As we have discovered in this article, the width of view and magnification are related to each other and in order to have a really wide view you have to sacrifice power. So for your specific needs, you need to establish just how much detail you need to observe against how much of the whole picture you need or want to view at once.

There are situations where you need a higher power, but still a reasonably wide view, this is where 10x binoculars fit in. But even here it is still sensible to try and get as wide a FOV as possible within your chosen power.

This makes sure that your bins are really versatile, providing you with loads of detail, without making it too difficult to locate and lock onto fast, erratic birds or even scan for wildlife over wide areas.